Cover and press for tennis rackets



Sept. 26, 1967 F. BAUKNEY COVER AND PRESS FOR TENNIS RACKETS Filed May17, 1965 INVENTOR ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,343,838 COVER ANDPRESS FOR TENNIS RACKETS Lucille F. Baukney, 1520 NE. 40th Court, FortLauderdale, Fla. 33308 Filed May 17, 1965, Ser. No. 456,146 Claims. (Cl.27374) This invention relates to a combined cover and press for tennisrackets or similar articles of such nature as will protect the head of atennis racket against elements and to also maintain the frame of thetennis racket against warping.

The invention contemplates a molded plastic cover that is shaped toconform to the general oval shape of the head of a tennis racket andwith the cover being formed of relatively stiff plastic material thatwill avoid flexing and that will maintain the body of the tennis racketin a normal flat condition. The cover embodies an upper and lower spacedapart substantially fiat walls that are connected together around theirmajor circumference by an edge wall and with the edge wall beingterminated at one side to form an opening for the insertion of the headof the tennis racket and with the opening being covered and uncovered byhinged U-shaped cover that conforms to the curvature of the device andswingable to a closed overlapping position with respect to the upper andlower walls of the device.

The invention further comprises a tennis racket cover and press havingsubstantially identical upper and lower walls that are spaced apart todefine a chamber for the reception of the head of a tennis racket andwith the upper and lower walls at spaced apart points being providedwith depressions constituting clamping surfaces for the frame of thetennis racket head and with the depressions of the upper and lower facesbeing in opposed relation and with the depressions being yieldable topermit the insertion of the frame of the tennis racket therebetween soas to effectively clamp the tennis racket at substantially four pointsupon a tennis racket frame and with the cover being peripherallyreinforced by a thickened wall and with the cover being formed open fora part of its circumference to permit the body of the tennis racket tobe inserted into the chamber and engaged between a pair of opposeddepressed elements and with the opening being closed by a hinged U-shapecover that conforms to the curvature of the cover and with the closurecover being also depressed to engage into an adjacent depression in theupper and lower covers.

Novel features of construction and operation of the device will be moreclearly apparent during the course of the following description,reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein has beenillustrated a preferred form of the device and wherein like charactersof reference are employed to denote like parts throughout the severalfigures.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a tennis racket cover and press illustratingthe invention,

FIGURE 2 is an edge view of the device,

FIGURE 3 is a section taken substantially on line 3-3 of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 4 is a section taken substantially on line 4-4 of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 5 is a section taken substantially on line 5-5 of FIGURE 1, and

FIGURE 6 is a section taken substantially on line 6-6 of FIGURE 1.

Referring specifically to the drawings, there has been provided a tennisracket cover having upper and lower sheets of relatively stifi plastic 5and 6, connected at their marginal edges by a vertical wall 7 that isprovided with a molded reinforcing strip 8 extending for the majorcircumference of the device. The covers 5 and 6 are spaced apart asillustrated, to form a chamber 9 therebetween and each of the sheets 5and 6 are identically formed and provided with depressed areas 10, 11,'12 and 13 and these depressed areas project into the chamber 9 and,being in opposed relation with respect to the sheets 5 and 6, constituteclamping elements for the frame F of the tennis racket and the depressedareas 10-13 are yieldable to permit the frame of the tennis racket to beforced therebetween to substantially hold the frame of the tennis racketagainst warping. The side wall 7 and the rib 8 are cut away at one sideof the cover, forming an opening 14 for a substantial part of the coverto permit the insertion of the frame F of the cover therethrough to beengaged by the depressed areas 10-13.

A generally U-shaped cover 15 is adapted to overlie the opening 14, seeparticularly FIGURES 1 and 6. The cover 15 is curved to conform to thecurvature of the tennis racket cover and terminates adjacent a rearopening 16, employed to receive the handle 17 of the tennis racket. Thesides 18 of the cover 15 overlie the marginal areas of the upper andlower sheets 5 and 6 and connected together by a wall 19. The sides 18are also depressed as indicated at 20 and, when the closure cover is inthe closed position, engages within the depressed area 13, seeparticularly FIGURES 1 and 6. The closure cover 15 is hingedly connectedto a marginal body of the racket cover by a pin 21.

In the use of the device, the closure cover 15 is swung to the openposition shown in dotted lines in FIGURE 1, exposing the edge opening 14of the racket cover and the tennis racket frame F is then insertedthrough the opening 14 in an angle direction, also shown in FIGURE 1 andis shifted into the chamber wall 19, with the frame F of the tennisracket being forcibly engaged between the inwardly projecting depressedareas 1013. The racket is then swung sidewise, disposing the handle '17into the opening 16 and it should be pointed out, that the opening 14also communicates with the opening 16. With the tennis racket beingpositioned in its cover as shown in FIG- URE 1, the closure cover isthen swung inwardly, causing its depressed area to have snappingengagement into the depressed area 13 where to be effectively heldagainst accidental opening.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that a very novel tennis racketcover and press has been provided. The device may be suitably moldedfrom plastic and con stitutes a weather-proof support for the racket. Inthe molding of the sheets 5 and 6, the depressed areas 10-13 are formedtherein and spaced apart as clearly shown in FIGURE 1, being so arrangedthat when the racket is fully engaged, the frame of the racket will besuitably clamped between the several inwardly depressed areas 10-13. Thedevice is strong, durable, cheap to manufacture and most effective forprotecting a tennis racket against the elements and to hold the frame ofthe racket in a true oval position against warping.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the preciseconstruction shown, but that changes are contemplated as readily fallwithin the spirit of the invention as shall be determined by the scopeof the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. A molded plastic combined cover and press for tennis rackets thatcomprises a cover that is shaped to conform to the curvature of the headportion of a tennis racket, the cover embodying a pair of spaced apartwalls of substantially oval shape that are connected together by anintegral marginal wall, the spacing of the walls defining a chamber forthe reception of the head of the tennis racket, the cover terminating atone end in a reduced throat opening adapted to embrace the handle of thetennis racket, the cover being provided with an etchgated opening at onemarginal edge whereby the head of the racket may be inserted into thecover, the elongated opening also extending through the throat openingand a pivoted closure for the elongated opening, each of the side wallsbeing indented to yieldably engage the frame of the tennis racket tomaintain the frame against warping.

2. A combined tennis racket cover and frame press that comprises amolded plastic housing of generally oval shape in top plan and thatconsists of a pair of plate sections that are spaced apart in accordancewith the thickness of the tennis racket head, the plates being connectedtogether at their marginal edges by a reinforced wall that is integralwith the plates, the spacing of the plates in their spaced apartrelation defining an open chamber, the plates at one end being providedwith an opening to receive a portion of the handle of the tennis racket,the integral wall for a portion of the marginal edges of the platesbeing cut away to form an elongated opening for the insertion of thehead tennis racket and with the opening communicating with the openingfor the handle of the racket and a pivoted closure device for themarginal opening that is of U-shape to overlie and underlie,respectively, the upper and lower plates, and means carried by theclosure that has snapping engagement with the plates.

3. The structure according to claim 2 wherein the plates at spaced apartpoints are pressed inwardly to form yieldable presses for the receptionof the head of the tennis racket and with the walls of the closuredevice being pressed inwardly in alignment with the inwardly pressedarea of the upper and lower plates and whereby to have a snappingengagement into the pressed areas at one side of the device and toretain the cover in a closed position.

4. The structure according to claim 2 wherein the upper and lower platesare molded inwardly to project into the chamber from the upper and lowersides of the device and whereby the frame of the tennis racket isyieldably engaged between the inward projections to yieldably clamp thetennis racket frame therebetween.

5. A combined tennis racket cover and press that comprises a pair ofspaced apart plates of generally oval shape and with the plates forminga chamber therebetween, the plates around their marginal edges beingconnected together by a marginal wall that is reinforced, the upper andlower plates being inwardly molded at spaced apart points to form clampsfor the head of the tennis racket, a portion of the. marginal wall ofthe plates being omitted to form an elongated opening and with theopening communicating with an opening at one end of the plates for thereeeption of a handle of the tennis racket, the elongated opening beingcovered and uncovered by a U-shaped cover that is shaped to conform tothe curvature of the head of the cover, the cover being pivotallyconnected at one end of the elongated opening and swingable toward andfrom the plates and to overlie the upper and lower plates, the coverbeing depressed to have snapping engagement into one of the depressedareas of the plates whereby to maintain the cover in a closed position,the several depressed areas of the plates adapted to yieldably engage aframe of the tennis racket at spaced apart points to mintain the frameof the racket against warping.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,203,786 11/1916 Ricords 273-741,620,072 3/1927 Chase 27374 FOREIGN PATENTS 421,302 12/1934 GreatBritain.

ANTON O. OECHSLE, Primary Examiner.

R. J. APLEY, Assistant Examiner.

1. A MOLDED PLASTIC COMBINED COVER AND PRESS FOR TENNIS RACKETS THATCOMPRISES A COVER THAT IS SHAPED TO CONFORM TO THE CURVATURE OF THE HEADPORTION OF A TENNIS RACHET, THE COVER EMBODYING A PAIR OF SPACED APARTWALLS OF SUBSTANTIALLY OVAL SHAPE THAT ARE CONNECTED TOGETHER BY ANINTEGRAL MARGINAL WALL, THE SPACING OF THE WALLS DEFINING A CHAMBER FORTHE RECEPTION OF THE HEAD OF THE TENNIS RACKET, THE COVER TERMINATING ATONE IN A REDUCED THROAT OPENING ADAPTED TO EMBRACE THE HANDLE OF THETENNIS RACKET MAY BE COVER BEING PROVIDED WITH AN ELONGATED OPENING AT AMARGINAL EDGE WHEREBY THE HEAD OF THE RACKET MAY BE INSERTED INTO THECOVER, THE ELONGATED OPENING ALSO EXTENDING THROUGH THE THROAT OPENINGAND A PIVOTED CLOSURE FOR THE ELONGATED OPENING, EACH OF THE SIDE WALLSBEING INDENTED TO YIELDABLY ENGAGE THE FRAME OF THE TENNIS RACKET TOMAINTAIN THE FRAME AGAINST WRAPING.